I see a lot of debate here over how much piracy hurts software authors. It is argued that, since copying software takes nothing away from the author (with the exception of a potential sale), there is nothing wrong with it. And yet, there is no avoiding the fact that shareware authors spend a LOT of their valuable time coding software that sometimes can be referred to as no less than a "masterpiece"; only to see 90% of its users refuse to reimburse him.
I'm not going to argue the morality or technical aspects of piracy, I'd only like to point out a possible (and feasible) solution to this entire problem - the problem being, namely, that programmers are not being paid for their hard work. Note, please, that I'm not saying that software is being STOLEN, I'm just saying that the person who worked hard to give you what you're using is not being rewarded for doing so.
The solution, and the only truly reasonable solution, is to have a sort of software tax. With the entire world using software now, much of it shareware, and with the rising importance of software in everyday life these days, we could very easily find ourselves paying an evenly-distributed tax, mixed in with our other taxes, that goes to shareware authors. It would ensure that authors were paid more completely for every copy in use, and therefore would encourage them to continue producing.
I personally don't find this solution very pleasant; and I'm sure I'm overlooking some huge bureacratic and technical issues, but with how things are going, it could be a likely solution in another 10 or 20 years, if we have the same problem then.
The only defense for an attack which was described here that I can think of, is to have a distributed network of CRC values for all files; in a gnutella-type fashion - then once you've downloaded your binary; you can verify your CRC with thousands of others who have the same file.
"Bandwidth, through the joint efforts of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General (EPA-OIG), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), supervised by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada, created a 'warez' site, controlled and monitored by the undercover operation, as a means of attracting predicated targets involved with the distribution of pirated software. The undercover 'warez' site has been accessed to transfer over 100,000 files, including over 12,000 separate software programs, movies and games."
So not only did they use entrapment; but they were themselves accessory to over 12,000 incidents of software piracy!!!
But that's not why I'm writing - one of the letters says something to the effect of,"You can't stop us now, we have this anthrax"; then it goes on to say like,"Allah is great" and "USA sucks" (I'm paraphrasing, of course.)
This doesn't sound like the anti-abortionists to me.
I would have agreed with you once, long ago.. but consider this:
If you let the rights of a "detainee" or "prisoner" decay, under the rationalization that,"Hey, they're prisoners - they broke the law, they forfiet their rights!", you'll regret it when one day the United States has slowly broadened their definition of "illegal" or even "questionable" to include things you do in everyday life; at which point you'll be arrested and YOU will be the very prisoner that you spoke out against.
For instance, look at the story of Brian West - He did NOTHING illegal, but was picked up by the FBI.
In the late dawn of the computer age; our judicial system is STILL very illiterate in the ways of the Internet; and could easily be persuaded by our "honorable" federal agencies that Brian's was an act of TERROR; therefore opening him up to all sorts of violations of his rights under our new laws.
This is why, unfortunately, prisoners must have rights - because they might have broken no laws; but they did something that left a bad taste in the government's mouth.
"...help, help, I'm being repressed!" "Bloody peasant!":)
What began as a disaster has turned into a blessing for the government! Under the guise of ridding our world of terrorism; they've simply pulled the constitution out from under us. "Well, we won't be needing THIS anymore, now will we?", they say, tearing it several times and discarding it. "Now, where was that self-help book on building a better government?" Looking around briefly, they spot a book entitled "1984" lying on a table. "AH! There it is!"
Patriot talk: "I'm willing to sacrifice ALL my civil rights, if it will keep America the land of the FREE!"
Patriot talk: "America means FREEDOM! And that means you can be whoever you want to be, you can say whatever you want to say, without fear... unless you're unpatriotic of course, in that case, I hope the NSA throws you in jail, you worthless commie!!"
Seriously, who here has the balls to put a sticker that says "Proud to be unpatriotic" on their brand new car?? I dare you! In this country, where people are supposed to be free, the patriots are the ones who are the most oppressive.
Where are we going? And why are we in this handbasket?
Ah HA!! This Anonymous Coward is the same guy who wrote the article in the first place; the guy who owns the p0rn site, the guy who wants to be Slashdotted!!! Damn, I'm good!
*I* suspect that the poster of this message is the current owner of the domain himself; and that he made up a story that would be Slashdot-worthy in order to intentionally Slashdot(verb) his own p0rn site; and therefore drive up his traffic and hopefully gain some income.
Slashdot Mirror
I dumped limewire long ago in favor of a hacked Xolox client. The paralell downloads feature is essential.
I see a lot of debate here over how much piracy hurts software authors. It is argued that, since copying software takes nothing away from the author (with the exception of a potential sale), there is nothing wrong with it. And yet, there is no avoiding the fact that shareware authors spend a LOT of their valuable time coding software that sometimes can be referred to as no less than a "masterpiece"; only to see 90% of its users refuse to reimburse him.
I'm not going to argue the morality or technical aspects of piracy, I'd only like to point out a possible (and feasible) solution to this entire problem - the problem being, namely, that programmers are not being paid for their hard work. Note, please, that I'm not saying that software is being STOLEN, I'm just saying that the person who worked hard to give you what you're using is not being rewarded for doing so.
The solution, and the only truly reasonable solution, is to have a sort of software tax. With the entire world using software now, much of it shareware, and with the rising importance of software in everyday life these days, we could very easily find ourselves paying an evenly-distributed tax, mixed in with our other taxes, that goes to shareware authors. It would ensure that authors were paid more completely for every copy in use, and therefore would encourage them to continue producing.
I personally don't find this solution very pleasant; and I'm sure I'm overlooking some huge bureacratic and technical issues, but with how things are going, it could be a likely solution in another 10 or 20 years, if we have the same problem then.
The only defense for an attack which was described here that I can think of, is to have a distributed network of CRC values for all files; in a gnutella-type fashion - then once you've downloaded your binary; you can verify your CRC with thousands of others who have the same file.
Just my thought - it would make *me* feel safer.
Well how did they get the warez kiddies onto the site? They must have advertised somehow..
I dunno about that, man, one time my warez CD burn buffer underran; so in frustration I broke the CD in half and cut my hand in the process...
So not only did they use entrapment; but they were themselves accessory to over 12,000 incidents of software piracy!!!
I can't WAIT till somebody finds their computer infected, and distributes the logger for reverse-engineering!!! I wanna take a look at it!
Dude - your writing sucks.
But that's not why I'm writing - one of the letters says something to the effect of,"You can't stop us now, we have this anthrax"; then it goes on to say like,"Allah is great" and "USA sucks" (I'm paraphrasing, of course.)
This doesn't sound like the anti-abortionists to me.
"Those who are willing to trade freedom for security deserve neither freedom nor security."
-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
I would have agreed with you once, long ago.. but consider this:
If you let the rights of a "detainee" or "prisoner" decay, under the rationalization that,"Hey, they're prisoners - they broke the law, they forfiet their rights!", you'll regret it when one day the United States has slowly broadened their definition of "illegal" or even "questionable" to include things you do in everyday life; at which point you'll be arrested and YOU will be the very prisoner that you spoke out against.
For instance, look at the story of Brian West - He did NOTHING illegal, but was picked up by the FBI.
In the late dawn of the computer age; our judicial system is STILL very illiterate in the ways of the Internet; and could easily be persuaded by our "honorable" federal agencies that Brian's was an act of TERROR; therefore opening him up to all sorts of violations of his rights under our new laws.
This is why, unfortunately, prisoners must have rights - because they might have broken no laws; but they did something that left a bad taste in the government's mouth.
"...help, help, I'm being repressed!" "Bloody peasant!" :)
... unless you're unpatriotic of course, in that case, I hope the NSA throws you in jail, you worthless commie!!"
What began as a disaster has turned into a blessing for the government! Under the guise of ridding our world of terrorism; they've simply pulled the constitution out from under us. "Well, we won't be needing THIS anymore, now will we?", they say, tearing it several times and discarding it. "Now, where was that self-help book on building a better government?" Looking around briefly, they spot a book entitled "1984" lying on a table. "AH! There it is!"
Patriot talk: "I'm willing to sacrifice ALL my civil rights, if it will keep America the land of the FREE!"
Patriot talk: "America means FREEDOM! And that means you can be whoever you want to be, you can say whatever you want to say, without fear
Seriously, who here has the balls to put a sticker that says "Proud to be unpatriotic" on their brand new car?? I dare you! In this country, where people are supposed to be free, the patriots are the ones who are the most oppressive.
Where are we going? And why are we in this handbasket?
Ah HA!! This Anonymous Coward is the same guy who wrote the article in the first place; the guy who owns the p0rn site, the guy who wants to be Slashdotted!!! Damn, I'm good!
*I* suspect that the poster of this message is the current owner of the domain himself; and that he made up a story that would be Slashdot-worthy in order to intentionally Slashdot(verb) his own p0rn site; and therefore drive up his traffic and hopefully gain some income.
/I/ would do, at least...
...sounds like something
Oh, is THAT what they put up on the domain?? *Whew*, I would have been in the same boat if I'd visited the link.. :)